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OpenAI’s Valuation Soars to $500 Billion After Major Share Sale Involving SoftBank

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OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, has achieved a staggering $500 billion valuation after employees and former staff sold $6.6 billion worth of shares to major global investors, according to a source cited by Reuters. This marks a sharp rise from its previous valuation of $300 billion, signaling the company’s explosive growth in both user base and revenue.

The deal involved sales to a powerful consortium of investors, including Thrive Capital, SoftBank, Dragoneer Investment Group, Abu Dhabi’s MGX, and T. Rowe Price. The company reportedly authorized the sale of more than $10 billion in stock on the secondary market, giving early employees and stakeholders the chance to cash out part of their holdings while maintaining OpenAI’s momentum in private financing rounds.

SoftBank, already a participant in OpenAI’s $40 billion primary funding round, has further strengthened its position with this deal. None of the involved firms immediately commented on the transaction.

Financially, OpenAI continues to outperform expectations. The company brought in around $4.3 billion in revenue during the first half of 2025, which is roughly 16% higher than its total revenue for the entirety of 2024, according to The Information.

The timing of this sale coincides with intensifying competition among global tech giants for AI talent and infrastructure dominance. Meta, for instance, is heavily investing in AI companies like Scale AI, and recently hired its 28-year-old CEO, Alexandr Wang, to spearhead its new superintelligence division—a move highlighting the escalating arms race in artificial intelligence innovation and expertise.

As OpenAI’s valuation hits half a trillion dollars, the company stands at the center of this rapidly transforming landscape—its technology, partnerships, and pace of growth redefining the frontier of modern computing.

OpenAI Launches “Sora” — an AI Video App That Can Generate Clips from Copyrighted Material

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OpenAI has unveiled Sora, a new AI-powered video creation app that allows users to generate and share short videos — including those derived from copyrighted content — directly to a built-in social media-style feed. The app, which represents OpenAI’s most ambitious push yet into generative video, is expected to raise new tensions across the entertainment industry.

According to the company, copyright holders such as movie and television studios must actively opt out if they do not wish to have their content appear in the app’s video feed. OpenAI described this as a continuation of its previous opt-out policy used for AI image generation, where creators must explicitly request the exclusion of their work from model training or public feeds.

The move is already sparking debate in Hollywood. People familiar with the matter said that Disney has opted out, and other major studios are currently in talks with OpenAI over the implications of Sora’s copyright framework.

Earlier this year, OpenAI urged the Trump administration to formally classify the use of copyrighted material for AI training as “fair use” under U.S. law — a position it argued was essential for national competitiveness and security, warning that U.S. AI firms could fall behind Chinese rivals without legal clarity.

Beyond copyright issues, OpenAI said Sora includes robust safeguards to prevent the misuse of personal likenesses and public figures. Users cannot generate videos of other people unless those individuals upload an AI “liveness check” — a verification process requiring users to move their heads and recite random numbers — to confirm consent.

Sora videos can be up to 10 seconds long and feature a new “Cameo” function, allowing users to create lifelike digital doubles of themselves and insert them into AI-generated scenes. The company says these videos are intended for creative experimentation and entertainment, with built-in transparency markers indicating AI generation.

Market analysts view the Sora app as a direct challenge to existing short-video giants such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak noted that the platform’s combination of AI creativity and social-sharing features positions OpenAI “in the business of competing for attention and reshaping user behavior.”

As Hollywood, regulators, and AI companies continue to clash over intellectual property and deepfake laws, Sora’s launch could set a major precedent for how AI-generated audiovisual content will be treated under future copyright and media frameworks.

Apple, Google, and Meta Must Face Lawsuits Over Casino-Style Gambling Apps

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A U.S. federal judge has ruled that Apple, Google, and Meta Platforms must face lawsuits accusing them of promoting and profiting from illegal casino-style gambling apps, rejecting their efforts to dismiss the claims under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

In a decision issued Tuesday, Judge Edward Davila of the U.S. District Court in San Jose, California, denied the companies’ main argument that the federal law shields them from liability for third-party content, saying the lawsuits focus on their active role in processing payments and collecting commissions, not merely hosting apps.

The lawsuits, filed as proposed class actions, allege that Apple’s App Store, Google Play Store, and Meta’s Facebook enabled and profited from apps simulating “Vegas-style” slot machine gambling that have led to user addiction, depression, and even suicidal behavior. The plaintiffs claim the companies brokered and collected 30% commissions — estimated to exceed $2 billion — from in-app purchases.

While some state-level claims were dismissed, Davila allowed most consumer protection claims to proceed, except those filed in California. He stated that the platforms’ activities went beyond publishing and that providing “neutral tools” did not absolve them from responsibility.

“The crux of plaintiffs’ theory is that defendants improperly processed payments for social casino apps,” Davila wrote. “It is beside the point whether that activity turns defendants into bookies or brokers.”

The companies now have the option to appeal immediately to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, with Davila acknowledging the national importance of Section 230 immunity questions.

The ongoing litigation, which began in 2021, consolidates several related cases:

  • In re Apple Inc. App Store Simulated Casino-Style Games Litigation (No. 21-md-02985)

  • In re Google Play Store Simulated Casino-Style Games Litigation (No. 21-md-03001)

  • In re Facebook Simulated Casino-Style Games Litigation (No. 21-02777)

The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified compensatory and triple damages, along with other remedies.